Loose-leaf book.



No. 778,070. PATENTED DEC. 20, 1904. w. P. PITT.

LOOSE LEAP BOOK.

APPLIOATION FILED DEU.1', 1903. NO MODEL i E I 7" E #3 2' I 7 i I UNITESTATES Patented December 20, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM P. PITT, OF INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO THE IRVING-PITT,CO., KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

LOOSE-LEAF BOOK- SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.778,070, dated December 20, 1904.

Application filed December 1, 1903. Serial No. 183,321.

7 To all whom it'mag concern;

Be it known that I, WILLIAM F. PITT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Independence, in the county of Jackson and State ofMissouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inLoose-Leaf Books, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in loose-leaf books provided with acover and hooks for securing the loose leaves; and my object is toprovide means whereby said hooks may be readily opened or closed bysimply drawing their free ends apart or pressingthem together, so thatloose'leaves may be quickly attached thereto or removed when desired.

A further object is to arrange, the several parts of the device in sucha manner that they may be readily secured to the back of the cover andto each other without the use ofrivets or other permanent fastenings, sothat when necessary they may be readily detached from each other and thecover to make repairs, &c.

The novel features of the invention reside in a pair of interlockingplates which, carry the hooks and hold them in an open or closedposition, a spring-plate which reliably holds the hook-plates fromaccidental movement when the hooks are in an open or closed position,and a retaining-plate which holds the hook-plates and spring-platetogether.

In order that the invention may be readily understood, reference willnow be made to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 representsan end view, partly in section, of a loose-leaf book provided with myimprovements. Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view of the retaining-plateemployed for holding the spring-plate and hook-plates together and toassist in securing the device to the back of the cover. Fig. 3 is adetail perspective view of the hook-plates in their operative position.Fig. 4: is a detail perspective view of the spring-plate employed tohold the hookplates from accidental movement when the hooks are in anopen or closed position and Which ill-conjunction with theretaining-plate secure the device to the cover. Fig. 5 is a 1 designatesthe cover, composed, prefer-.

ably, of leather and comprising sides 2, united by a back portion 3.

4 designates a pair of hook-plates, one of which has a marginal V,-shape groove 5 in its in ner longitudinal edge for the reception of aV-shape tongue 6, formed on the adjacent edge of the companion plate.Said plates are provided on their upper surface with a plurality ofrigidly-secured segmental hooks 7 and 8, the former .of which areprovided at their upper ends with V-shape grooves 9 for the reception.of V-shape tongues 10 on the free terminals of the companion memberswhen the hooks are in a closed position. The hookplates are reliablyheld from accidental movement when the hooks are in an open or closedposition by a spring-plate 11, provided with marginal flanges 12 alongits longitudinal .sides, forming grooves 13 for the reception of theouter longitudinal edges of the hook- Flanges 12 have marginal recessesI plates.

14 registering with the segmental hooks to permit the latter to openwithout contacting with the flanges. The spring-plate is depressed atitscentral longitudinal portion 15, so it may expand and contract andalso to permit the depression of the interlocking edges of thehook-plates when the segmental hooks are closed. I i 7 When thehook-plates are slipped into position in the spring-plate, the latter isthere- 'by slightly expanded, and consequently exerts compressive forceon the plates, thereby reliably retaining their interlocking edgestogether and in an elevated or depressed position. When in the latterposition, their downward movement is limited by the conta'ctingterminals of the hooks, and when elevated their movement is limited bycontact withthe under side of a retaining-plate 16,

somewhat similar in form to the spring-plate. The retaining-plate isalso composed, preferably, of spring metal and slightly arched at itslongitudinal central portion. It is held in position upon thespring-plate by longitudinal flanges 17, which underlap the sides of thespring-plate, and it is provided with oppositely-disposed transverseopen slots 18, which permit it to be attached or detached from thespringplate without interfering with the hooks and the free movement ofthe latter.

In assembling the parts and securing the device to the back of the coverthe hook-plates are placed together in the position shown in Fig. 3 andthen slid longitudinally into grooves 18 until the hooks register withrecesses 14. A piece of cloth 19, provided with slots 20 to slip overthe hooks, is then placed in position upon the hook-plates, where it isreliably held by the retaining-plate secured to the springplate byengaging the latter with one of flanges 17 and springing out itsopposite flange far enough to permit the latter to pass down and underthe opposite side of the springplate. As the retaining-plate is slightlyexpanded when in position, flanges 17 will be drawn tightly beneath thespring-plate and hold the several parts reliably together until removedby hand. The sides 21 of the interposed cloth 19 are then pasted orotherwise secured to the inner surface of sides 2 and covered by paperor leather sheets 22 to give the inner surface of the cover a finishedappearance.

When the device is in use, the hooks are normally retained in a closedposition by the compressive action of the spring-plate upon thehook-plates, the interlocking edges of which latter are thereby held inthe depressed position. (Shown in Fig. 5.) To insert or extract a leaf,the hooks are grasped near their upper ends and drawn apart until theinterlocking edges of the hook-plates contact with the retaining-plate,as indicated by dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 5, Where they are reliablyheld, leaving both hands free to handle the leaf and again close thehooks by pressing the latter together.

Ordinarily the spring-plate will exert suflicient pressure on thehook-plates to hold their interlocking ends together, and consequently aslight space is left between the side of the spring-plate and theretaining-plate, as shown in Fig. 5, to permit independent expansion ofthe spring-plate; but if greater pressure is found desirable said spacemay be omitted, so the expansion of the spring-plate will also cause theexpansion of the retaining-plate.

From the above description it is apparent that I have produced a devicewhich is simple in construction, easy to manipulate, and thoroughlyeffective for the purpose intended, and while I have illustrated anddescribed the preferred form I reserve the right to make such changes inthe arrangement and construction of parts as properly fall within thescope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

1. In a device of the character described, a plurality of interlockinghook-carrying plates adapted to hold the hooks in an open or closedposition,'a spring-plate engaging the hookplates and adapted to securethem from accidental movement when the hooks are in an open or closedposition, and means for rclial )ly holding the hook-plates and thespring-plate together.

2. In a device of the character described, a plurality of hook-carryingplates having interlocking edges and adapted to hold the hooks in anopen or closed position, a spring-plate engaging the hook-plates andadapted to secure them from accidental movement when the hooks are in anopen or closed position, and means for reliably holding the hook-platesand the springdate together.

3. In a device of the character described, a hook-carrying plateprovided with a groove in one of its longitudinal edges, a secondhookcarrying plate provided with a longitudinal tongue which pivotallyengages the groove in the first-mentioned plate so the hook-plates maybe operated to open and close the hooks, a spring-plate engaging thehook-plates and adapted to secure them from accidental movement when thehooks are in an open or closed position, and means for reliably holdingthe hook-plates and the spring-plate together.

1. In a device of the character described, a plurality of hook-carryingplates arranged with their inner edges operati vcl y connected, aspring-plate embracing one side and the outer edge of the hook-platesand adapted to secure them from accidental movement when the hooks arein an open or closed position, and means for reliably holding thehook-plates and the spring-plate together.

5. In a device of the character described, a plurality of hook-carryingplates having their adjacent edges detachably and operativcly arranged,a spring-plate detachably connected to the hook-plates and adapted tosecure them from accidental movement when the hooks are in an open orclosed position, and means for reliably holding the hook plates and thespring-plate together.

6. In a device of the character described, a, plurality of hook-carryingplates having their inner edges operatively connected, a s ringplatewith marginal flanges to engage the outer edge of the hook-plates, andmeans for reliably holding the hook plates and the spring-platetogether.

7. In a device of the character described, a plurality of hook-carryingplates provided with interlocking edges, a'spring-plate provicled withmarginal recessed flanges to engage the outer edges of the hook-platesand permit the hooks to open, and means for detachably holding thehook-plates and the spring-plate together.

8. In a deviceof the character described, a plurality of hook-carryingplates having their adjacent edges operatively connected, a springplatefor holding the'hook plates fromvaccidental movement when the hooksarein an open or closed position, and a retaining-plate for holding thehook-plates and the springplate together.

9. 'In a device ofthe character described, a pair of hook-carryingplates having their inner edges operatively connected, a springplatefor" holding the hook-plates from acci dental movement when the hooksare in an open or closed position, and a slotted retain- In testimonywhereof I aflix my signature in witnesses.

WILLIAM P. PITT, Witnesses 1 J. W. BoLIive, F. G. FISCHER.

the presence of two

